Featurehttp://www.usahockeymagazine.com/taxonomy/term/1/all
enThe Meek Shall Inherit The Icehttp://www.usahockeymagazine.com/article/2015-06/meek-shall-inherit-ice
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How Some Previously Lesser Known Schools Have Climbed To The Top Of The College Hockey World </div>
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By:&nbsp;</div>
<a href="/node/37">Jess Myers</a> </div>
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<p><strong><span class="inline inline-none"><img src="http://www.usahockeymagazine.com/sites/default/files/images/167262918.jpg" alt="Over the past four years, 33 different programs have made it to the NCAA tournament, and for the fourth time in the past five years there has been a first-time champion, including Yale University in 2013." title="Over the past four years, 33 different programs have made it to the NCAA tournament, and for the fourth time in the past five years there has been a first-time champion, including Yale University in 2013." class="image image-_original " width="525" height="495" /><span class="caption" style="width: 523px;">Over the past four years, 33 different programs have made it to the NCAA tournament, and for the fourth time in the past five years there has been a first-time champion, including Yale University in 2013.</span></span></strong></p>
<p>Queen&rsquo;s classic ballad &ldquo;We Are the Champions&rdquo; is the traditional music blasted inside the locker room of the NCAA Frozen Four champions. Although in recent years, Foreigner&rsquo;s catchy number &ldquo;Feels Like the First Time&rdquo; might be a more appropriate soundtrack when the national championship trophy is hoisted at center ice.</p>
<p>When Providence College skated off the ice at Boston&rsquo;s TD Garden in April, it marked the fourth time in the past five years that the Frozen Four has been won by a first-time champion. The Friars joined Minnesota Duluth (2011), Yale (2013) and Union (2014) among programs having to map out their initial ticker tape parade route.</p>
<p>In this new world of college hockey parity, it&rsquo;s now been more than a decade since a team has repeated as champions &ndash; Denver won back-to-back crowns in 2004 and 2005 &ndash; and when you&rsquo;re looking to pick a winner among the Frozen Four field, the recent odds say you should look for a lack of tournament experience.</p>
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<h2>&ldquo;A four-year player gets to develop with a good coaching staff over a longer period, and build more team unity, which can be a big boost to on-ice success,&rdquo; said Yale coach Keith Allain.</h2>
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<p>The hard numbers show a college game where anyone &ndash; not just the &ldquo;BCS&rdquo; programs like Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, Boston College, etc. &ndash; has a real shot at getting into the NCAA tourney, and at winning four games there. In the past seven years, there have been 28 spots up for grabs in the Frozen Four and 20 different programs have filled them.</p>
<p>In just the past four years, 33 different programs have made it to the NCAA tournament, meaning that more than half of all of the seniors who departed college hockey at the end of this season made at least one trip to the NCAA&rsquo;s 16-team field</p>
<p>Opinions vary on the source of this recent parity, but College Hockey Inc. executive director Mike Snee sees a case that any math major could figure out pretty easily. More high-level players are available to college recruiters, while the number of players per team (roughly 25) and the number of colleges fielding D-I hockey teams (59) has stayed the same.</p>
<p>&ldquo;The competitiveness in college hockey today is directly related to the significant increase in Americans playing at a very high level,&rdquo; Snee said.</p>
<p>&ldquo;The number of young people in the U.S. that play hockey has more than doubled in the past 25 years, while the number of schools offering D-I Men&rsquo;s hockey has grown only slightly in that time, so the player pool is being spread out over more programs.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Another theory notes that a player fast-tracked for a pro hockey career may stay on campus for a year or two before heading to the big leagues. In contrast, the less-heralded college programs have to find more &ldquo;hidden gems,&rdquo; which means rosters with more four-year players who may have started college hockey after two or three years of Juniors. So one team&rsquo;s best player is a 19-year-old sophomore, while another team&rsquo;s star is a 24-year-old senior. That additional maturity makes a huge on-ice difference.</p>
<p>&ldquo;A four-year player gets to develop with a good coaching staff over a longer period, and build more team unity, which can be a big boost to on-ice success,&rdquo; said Yale coach Keith Allain.</p>
<p>&ldquo;When a player has been in a program for four years, they&rsquo;re doing things automatically, rather than thinking about the system, and that makes a difference.&rdquo;</p>
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Issue:&nbsp;</div>
<a href="/issue/2015-06">2015-06</a> </div>
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http://www.usahockeymagazine.com/article/2015-06/meek-shall-inherit-ice#commentsCollege HockeyncaaFeatureWed, 24 Jun 2015 16:18:16 +0000admin11753 at http://www.usahockeymagazine.comPioneer Spirithttp://www.usahockeymagazine.com/article/2015-06/pioneer-spirit
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By:&nbsp;</div>
<a href="/node/12">Harry Thompson</a> </div>
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<p><strong><span class="inline inline-none"><img src="http://usahockeymagazine.com/sites/default/files/images/GettyImages-72555737.jpg" alt="Sled hockey pioneers such as Dave Conklin and Manny Guerra have blazed a trail for a new generation of talented athletes." title="Sled hockey pioneers such as Dave Conklin and Manny Guerra have blazed a trail for a new generation of talented athletes." class="image image-_original " width="525" height="524" /><span class="caption" style="width: 523px;">Sled hockey pioneers such as Dave Conklin and Manny Guerra have blazed a trail for a new generation of talented athletes.</span></span></strong></p>
<p>In his Team USA jersey and USA Hockey ball cap, Dave Conklin looked like any other local fan who came to the HarborCenter in Buffalo to cheer on the home team at the 2015 IPC Sled Hockey World Championship.</p>
<p>Even here in the center of the sled hockey universe, few knew that this quiet, unassuming man is one of the true legends of the game. A three-time Paralympian, Conklin was part of a small group of pioneers who took sled hockey from a recreational activity played at rehabilitation centers around Chicago and the Northeast and turned it into the prime-time sport that it is today.</p>
<p>This year&rsquo;s World Champion-ship was a prime example of that as games were broadcast around the world, including on NBC Sports Network. To think how far things have come since one of Conklin&rsquo;s teammates had to mortgage his house and adjoining property to help the team pay for its trip to Nagano, Japan for the first Paralympic competition in 1998 is amazing.</p>
<p>&ldquo;Every time I come back to watch the fellas play it&rsquo;s a flood of memories,&rdquo; the 60-year-old Lacrosse, Wis., native said with a touch of pride. &ldquo;First, I&rsquo;m envious that I wasn&rsquo;t that young when I started. I was 34 when I started, and I played for 15 years.&rdquo;</p>
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<h2 style="text-align: center;">&ldquo;Sled hockey was such a big part of our lives for so long, it&rsquo;s nice to give back,&rdquo;</h2>
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<p>Of course, things didn&rsquo;t get off to a flying start. The U.S. Team finished sixth out of six teams at both the 1998 Paralympics and the 2000 World Championships. And when the Paralympics came to Salt Lake City in 2002, the team wasn&rsquo;t expected to do much better.</p>
<p>But under the direction of former NHL star player Rick Middleton, the U.S. squad that featured 10 first-time Paralympians shocked the more established players from Norway with a dramatic 4-3 shootout victory to win gold.</p>
<p>That victory, along with the relentless promotion of the sport that followed, helped grow the game and gave disabled athletes everywhere a new group of role models to look up to.</p>
<p>Conklin has a gold and bronze medal to show for those 15 years as a player. But equally important, he is proud of what he&rsquo;s done since a recurring shoulder injury forced him to eventually hang up his competitive sled.</p>
<p>He continues to serve as an ambassador for the sport by working with the Wounded Warriors and Disabled Sports USA, helping expose the sport to the next generation of sled stars.</p>
<p>&ldquo;Sled hockey was such a big part of our lives for so long, it&rsquo;s nice to give back,&rdquo; he said.</p>
<p>And while Conklin played with some great teammates in their own right, including Sylvester Flis, Manny Guerra and Joe Howard, he is amazed at the skill and the speed that today&rsquo;s players possess.</p>
<p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m so excited to see them and to see the skills that these kids have,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s amazing the accuracy of their passes and the speed with which they can skate. These kids are so explosive and their agility is just incredible. They can turn on a dime and head the other way full speed. I&rsquo;m in awe of how good they are.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Bringing the event to Buffalo gave Conklin an opportunity to reconnect with former teammates and lifelong friends, like Kip St. Germaine, who is now coaching the U.S. Developmental Sled Team, and Rich DeGlopper, who was a driving force behind the program in the early days.</p>
<p>Having seen how far the sport has come in such a relatively short amount of time, there&rsquo;s no end in sight as far as Conklin is concerned. And sitting among the legion of flag-waving sled hockey fans that came to support the U.S. team as well as the other disabled athletes, he was content to sit back and take in the action, knowing that in a meaningful way he has helped bring the sport to where it is today.</p>
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http://www.usahockeymagazine.com/article/2015-06/pioneer-spirit#comments2015 IPC Sled Hockey World ChampionshipsUS Sled Hockey TeamFeatureWed, 24 Jun 2015 15:57:18 +0000admin11751 at http://www.usahockeymagazine.comDiggerhttp://www.usahockeymagazine.com/article/2015-06/digger
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A Lifetime Of Leadership </div>
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<a href="/node/12">Harry Thompson</a> </div>
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<p><span class="inline inline-none"><img src="http://usahockeymagazine.org/sites/default/files/images/Digger-opener.jpg" alt="" title="" class="image image-_original " width="525" height="595" /></span></p>
<p>It was in the early 1970s when an aspiring young goaltender from Massachusetts was training with the U.S. National Team at the Met Center in Bloomington, Minn., that he first crossed paths with the owner of the Minnesota North Stars. There was no way of knowing at the time that the encounter would change the course of hockey in the United States.</p>
<p>Ron DeGregorio and Walter Bush have been linked as much to the present and future of the game as they are to the past.</p>
<p>&ldquo;He and I had a lot of the same ideas to bring AHAUS [the Amateur Hockey Association of the United States] up to speed and more in line with the visions that we had,&rdquo; recalls Bush, who preceded DeGregorio as president and now serves as the co-chair of the board for the organization.</p>
<p>&ldquo;While we may have had the visions, I don&rsquo;t think that either one of us could ever have expected that those visions would lead USA Hockey to become what it is today.&rdquo;</p>
<p>And now that DeGregorio, or &ldquo;Digger&rdquo; as he is better known to his friends, has handed&nbsp; over the reins of an organization he has given his life to, his impact on USA Hockey and the sport he grew up loving in Boston is immeasurable because of his innovative contributions and courageous leadership.</p>
<p>Considered a &ldquo;visionary&rdquo; by those who know him best, DeGregorio took his passion for the game and infused it with a savvy business acumen and a team-first style of leadership to guide USA Hockey through some challenging times to become one of the top sports organizations in the world.</p>
<p>&ldquo;If I had to say what kind of leader &lsquo;Digger&rsquo; has been I would say he was a visionary,&rdquo; says&nbsp; Jim Smith, who was unanimously elected as the fifth USA Hockey president.</p>
<p>&ldquo;He&rsquo;s been a leader who is never satisfied with the status quo. He&rsquo;s always asking &lsquo;What can we do to improve?&rsquo; I think that&rsquo;s what &lsquo;Digger&rsquo; will best be known for.&rdquo;</p>
<h4>Planting The Seeds Of Passion</h4>
<p>DeGregorio&rsquo;s passion for the game took root at an early age when he began playing street hockey with grammar school friends in East Boston. Those pickup games soon migrated to the local ponds where he spent countless hours playing shinny hockey. Those early days on the pond not only helped him develop passion and skill, but with no adults around to organize the play, he also established early leadership traits that came with choosing up teams, establishing rules and settling disputes.</p>
<p>&ldquo;It was always fun yet competitive,&rdquo; he recalls.</p>
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<td><strong><span class="inline inline-none"><img src="http://usahockeymagazine.org/sites/default/files/images/3.Ron-playing-at-Middlebury-College.img_assist_custom-230x274.jpg" alt="Ron DeGregorio&amp;rsquo;s enthusiasm for the game and commitment to be the best he could be made him a popular addition to the U.S. National Team." title="Ron DeGregorio&amp;rsquo;s enthusiasm for the game and commitment to be the best he could be made him a popular addition to the U.S. National Team." class="image image-img_assist_custom-230x274 " width="229" height="274" /><span class="caption" style="width: 227px;">Ron DeGregorio&rsquo;s enthusiasm for the game and commitment to be the best he could be made him a popular addition to the U.S. National Team.</span></span></strong></td>
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<p>As one of the younger players, &ldquo;Digger&rdquo; usually found himself playing goal, where the challenge of stifling older shooters stoked his love of the position.</p>
<p>Just a teenager when the U.S. shocked the world by winning gold at the 1960 Olympic Winter Games in Squaw Valley, Calif., DeGregorio began to aim high with his own hockey dreams. And with six members of that team along with head coach Jack Riley hailing from the Bay State, the oppotunity to watch a number of them playing pick up hockey at the local rinks only helped fuel his competitive fire.</p>
<p>After a solid career at Boston Latin High School, DeGregorio eventually landed at Middlebury College, where an academic scholarship gave him an opportunity to pursue both an education and play goal at the next level.</p>
<p>Following graduation in 1969, he worked various jobs in the Boston area while continuing to play with the Braintree Hawks in the New England League. It was there he caught the eye of longtime referee Lenny Gagnon, who recommended to U.S. National Team coach Murray Williamson that he should give the young goaltender a tryout.</p>
<p>Even as a &ldquo;third string reserve goalie,&rdquo; DeGregorio&rsquo;s infectuous enthusiasm and relentless work ethic earned him the respect and admiration of his teammates and coaching staff.</p>
<h4>The Stage Is Set</h4>
<p>As the 1972 U.S. Team spent time in Bloomington preparing for the upcoming Olympic Winter Games in Sapporo, Japan, DeGregorio approached Bush about the possibility of learning the business of running a hockey team. In addition to working in the North Stars front office, where he &ldquo;started licking envelopes&rdquo; and other odd jobs,&nbsp; he also met Hal Trumble, USA Hockey&rsquo;s first executive director.</p>
<p>After being released as a player for Team USA, DeGre-gorio received a call from Trumble asking if he would be interested in serving as the registrar for the New England District, which at that time included Massachusetts.</p>
<p>It didn&rsquo;t take long for DeGregorio to prove himself to be an innovator as he enlisted the first group of Affiliate registrars to provide more contact at the local level.</p>
<p>It was the first of many innovative ideas that included computerizing the existing database, which made it easier to track players. He also created the first regular newsletter that allowed the organization to communicate with its members. And he made a name for himself around New England as the creator of the &ldquo;Mini 1-On-1,&rdquo; a shootout contest that became a regular feature on Boston Bruins TV broadcasts.</p>
<p><strong><span class="inline inline-none"><img src="http://usahockeymagazine.org/sites/default/files/images/52-57_Digger_AC.jpg" alt="Whether he was playing in an adult tournament or working with kids, Ron DeGregorio&amp;rsquo;s passion for the game was evident." title="Whether he was playing in an adult tournament or working with kids, Ron DeGregorio&amp;rsquo;s passion for the game was evident." class="image image-_original " width="525" height="188" /><span class="caption" style="width: 523px;">Whether he was playing in an adult tournament or working with kids, Ron DeGregorio&rsquo;s passion for the game was evident.</span></span></strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;He was well liked because he was honest,&rdquo; says Ron DiFilippo, a longtime friend who worked with DeGregorio to shape the future of hockey not only in Massachusetts, but also on a national level. &ldquo;You talk to him and you don&rsquo;t feel like he&rsquo;s looking through you or above you. Ron always had good ideas and he was willing to try your good ideas as well.&rdquo;</p>
<h4>The National Stage</h4>
<p>Before long DeGregorio was making his mark with USA Hockey at the national level, where his creativity and enthusiasm were a breath of fresh air for the organization.</p>
<p>Using his business savvy to serve as the organization&rsquo;s treasurer, DeGregorio helped bail USA Hockey out of a dire financial situation. And with a background in the insurance industry, he encouraged USA Hockey to become self-insured, which eventually led to the creation of HARP.</p>
<p>He was also influential in the creation of the National Team Development Program, an idea that was met with significant pushback but, once again, DeGregorio&rsquo;s inclusive leadership style helped win over dissenters.</p>
<p>Having recently completed its 18th season, the NTDP has set a standard of elite player development that has become the envy of the international community, and has invigorated the relationship with the National Hockey League.</p>
<p><strong><span class="inline inline-none"><img src="http://usahockeymagazine.org/sites/default/files/images/57_Digger_AC.jpg" alt="A creator of the Mini 1-on-1, Ron DeGregorio made a point of putting kids first in everything he did for the game." title="A creator of the Mini 1-on-1, Ron DeGregorio made a point of putting kids first in everything he did for the game." class="image image-_original " width="525" height="221" /><span class="caption" style="width: 523px;">A creator of the Mini 1-on-1, Ron DeGregorio made a point of putting kids first in everything he did for the game.</span></span></strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;If you look at the things that we&rsquo;ve accomplished at USA Hockey, so many of those things Digger was at the center of,&rdquo; says Dave Ogrean, who has worked closely with his good friend over the years to form a solid leadership team.</p>
<h4>Taking The Reins</h4>
<p>In addition to serving two terms as vice president of the Youth Council, DeGregorio was also a director at-large, the organization&rsquo;s treasurer and the head of the International Council.</p>
<p>With so much experience at various levels of the organization, Bush knew he was the right man to succeed him when he announced that he would step down as president.</p>
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<p>&ldquo;I told the board that I would leave in 2003 and I felt it was just a slam dunk that &lsquo;Digger&rsquo; would be elected president,&rdquo; Bush says. &ldquo;He has absolutely moved the organization ahead at a tremendous speed and has done so many good things. He was just a great leader for the last 12 years. A lot of good things fell our way and that&rsquo;s because he has the whole team on his side.&rdquo;</p>
<p>And others would readily agree.</p>
<p>&ldquo;He really had all the right tools to take over Walter&rsquo;s job with all the positions that he&rsquo;s held and how those positions grew under his leadership,&rdquo; DiFilippo says. &ldquo;Ron&rsquo;s a go-getter. Whatever he takes on, he works hard at it, and it&rsquo;s going to succeed.&rdquo;</p>
<p>With all he&rsquo;s done in the sport, it could be easy to overlook his success away from the rink. DeGregorio is the founder and president of the PenFacs Group, an investment and insurance firm specializing in the design, administration and funding of executive benefit plans. He also has four grown children with his wife Susan, and three grandchildren.</p>
<h4>A Legacy Of Leadership</h4>
<p>And while he is stepping down as the president, DeGregorio is quick to point out that he is not ready to hang up his USA Hockey hat. After giving so much of his life to the organization, it should come as no surprise that the biggest question DeGregorio is asking is &ldquo;What else can I do for the organization and the sport?&rdquo;</p>
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<td><strong><span class="inline inline-none"><img src="http://usahockeymagazine.org/sites/default/files/images/35.Digger.img_assist_custom-232x305.jpg" alt="Ron DeGregorio, seen here with Minnesota North Stars goalie Gump Worsley and longtme U.S. coach Dave Peterson." title="Ron DeGregorio, seen here with Minnesota North Stars goalie Gump Worsley and longtme U.S. coach Dave Peterson." class="image image-img_assist_custom-232x305 " width="232" height="304" /><span class="caption" style="width: 230px;">Ron DeGregorio, seen here with Minnesota North Stars goalie Gump Worsley and longtme U.S. coach Dave Peterson.</span></span></strong></td>
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<p>&ldquo;The people we have as staff and volunteers work together with a common purpose: for participant development, growing the game, and providing a safer environment on and off the ice,&rdquo; says DeGregorio, who will serve as the co-chair of the board with Bush.</p>
<p>&ldquo;If each of us knows why we are here at USA Hockey, if we are all working together for a common purpose through hockey, we are on the right path.</p>
<p>&ldquo;There will be successes and failures, but if everyone understands the vision and purpose that is served through USA Hockey, I feel we have a great chance to continue to improve and advance.&rdquo;</p>
<p>When it comes to summing up his legacy, DeGregorio will leave that to others. But after 40 years of service to an organization that grew from a shoebox in Tom Lockhart&rsquo;s New York City apartment to a leader in the Olympic movement, one doesn&rsquo;t have to look hard to see his fingerprints over every facet of USA Hockey.</p>
<p>&ldquo;I would hope that others will judge me as a competent leader who loved the game and the people in it,&rdquo; he says before paraphrasing what others might say. &ldquo;&lsquo;He was not perfect, but there was a lot to like about him.&rsquo;&rdquo;</p>
<p>Thanks to Ron DeGregorio&rsquo;s passion, intelligence, leadership and commitment to the game, there is certainly a lot to like about USA Hockey.</p>
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http://www.usahockeymagazine.com/article/2015-06/digger#commentsRon DeGregorioUSA HockeyFeatureWed, 24 Jun 2015 15:49:25 +0000admin11749 at http://www.usahockeymagazine.comBronze Anything But A Busthttp://www.usahockeymagazine.com/article/2015-06/bronze-anything-bust
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Work Ethic And Team Chemistry Worth Their Weight In Gold For Underdog American Squad </div>
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<p>Analytics may be all the rage in hockey these days, but there&rsquo;s one thing that puck possession metrics to faceoff percentages won&rsquo;t do. They can&rsquo;t measure heart.</p>
<p>When the U.S. Men&rsquo;s National Team roster was announced for the 2015 IIHF World Championship, critics were quick to say &ldquo;red, white and who?&rdquo; when looking at the 25 players named to the squad.</p>
<p>The group was an eclectic mix of seasoned NHL role players and talented but untested collegians, all backed up by a pair of minor league netminders. On paper, it looked like a mismatch when compared to other teams loaded with NHL superstars.</p>
<p>It&rsquo;s an annual rite of passage as American fans focus on the players who have turned down an invitation to play rather than celebrate those who have answered their country&rsquo;s call.</p>
<p>Jim Johannson has heard it all before and has learned to play the hand he&rsquo;s dealt when it comes to fielding a competitive team.</p>
<p>&ldquo;We can say all we want about the player pool, but in the end we want players who want to play in the Championships,&rdquo; said Johannson, who is part of the U.S. management team. &ldquo;Our focus is on having consistent performances there.&rdquo;</p>
<p>And that&rsquo;s exactly what the U.S. Men&rsquo;s National Team delivered over the course of two weeks in the Czech Republic. And when the ice chips settled, the Americans headed home with the hardware after shutting out the hosts, 3-0, to earn the bronze medal.</p>
<p><strong><span class="inline inline-none"><img src="http://ushockeymagazine.com/sites/default/files/images/900225623.jpg" alt="Connor Hellebuyck, a rising star in the Winnipeg Jets organization, was solid in goal for the United States, leading all tournament goaltenders in goals-against average and save percentage." title="Connor Hellebuyck, a rising star in the Winnipeg Jets organization, was solid in goal for the United States, leading all tournament goaltenders in goals-against average and save percentage." class="image image-_original " width="525" height="343" /><span class="caption" style="width: 523px;">Connor Hellebuyck, a rising star in the Winnipeg Jets organization, was solid in goal for the United States, leading all tournament goaltenders in goals-against average and save percentage.</span></span></strong></p>
<p>It was the second medal the Americans have earned in a span of three years, a feat that has not been accomplished since Harry Truman occupied the Oval Office.</p>
<p>&ldquo;I think another bronze medal, the second in three years, is a great accomplishment,&rdquo; Johannson said. &ldquo;We played 10 national teams and won eight of those games. That&rsquo;s a big accomplishment.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Not bad for a young team that had been written off before the puck dropped in Prague.</p>
<p>All the talk from the peanut gallery didn&rsquo;t bother Matt Hendricks who, despite representing the U.S. for the first time, was the perfect veteran to lead the younger skaters through the challenges of a grueling international tournament.</p>
<p>&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know if we used it so much as motivation. We obviously knew the expectations. From the outside looking in they weren&rsquo;t that high; a lot of the media and such didn&rsquo;t really think we had a chance to medal,&rdquo; said the 34-year-old team captain.</p>
<p>&ldquo;We knew we didn&rsquo;t have the experience, but we had the ability. We had guys who could score goals, but we had to outwork our opponents.&rdquo;</p>
<p>And that work ethic started with their captain and permeated through the entire lineup. The end result was a team that quickly gained the respect of the hockey world due to its blue-collar mentality.</p>
<p>Starting with an impressive 5-1 victory over a solid Finnish team, the Americans continued their hot hand with wins over Norway (2-1), Russia (4-2), Denmark (1-0), Slovenia (3-1) and Slovakia (5-4, OT). In fact a 5-2 loss to Belarus would serve as the Americans&rsquo; only blemish in the preliminary round.</p>
<p>&ldquo;The passion and the energy that everybody brought was pretty incredible,&rdquo; said forward Brock Nelson, who led the U.S. with four goals and six assists.</p>
<p>&ldquo;I think you could see how motivated everybody was, the young guys all the way through to our leader with Hendy. I think top to bottom everybody did a great job of buying in and having jump and energy throughout the tournament.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Perhaps no one stepped up bigger than unheralded goaltenders Connor Hellebuyck and Jack Campbell. While lacking the NHL experience of many of their international counterparts, both netminders made the most of their opportunities when called upon.</p>
<p>Hellebuyck, a Winnipeg Jets prospect who played last season in the AHL, outshined some well-known netminders in the tournament, including Finland&rsquo;s Pekka Rinne and Russia&rsquo;s Sergei Bobrovski, leading all goaltenders with a 1.37 goals-against average and a 94.79 save percentage.</p>
<p><strong><span class="inline inline-none"><img src="http://ushockeymagazine.com/sites/default/files/images/900225605.jpg" alt="The U.S. rode the hot hand of Connor Hellebuyck, who stymied the host Czech Republic in the bronze-medal game." title="The U.S. rode the hot hand of Connor Hellebuyck, who stymied the host Czech Republic in the bronze-medal game." class="image image-_original " width="525" height="309" /><span class="caption" style="width: 523px;">The U.S. rode the hot hand of Connor Hellebuyck, who stymied the host Czech Republic in the bronze-medal game.</span></span></strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve always thought Connor and Jack are good prospects, but the reality is that at some point guys have to get an opportunity,&rdquo; Johannson said.</p>
<p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m happy that they had the opportunity to play there, and if that benefits them down the road then that&rsquo;s going to help us.&rdquo;</p>
<p>The other bright spot was the play of the team&rsquo;s five college players, each of whom showed great poise to go along with the skill that has NHL teams jockeying for their services.</p>
<p>Among them was Jack Eichel, who is projected to be a top pick in the upcoming NHL Entry Draft. After a whirlwind season at Boston University where he won the Hobey Baker Award while leading his team to the NCAA championship game, Eichel looked right at home on international ice against some of the top players in the world.</p>
<p>His overtime goal against Slovakia gave the U.S. the top spot in Group B and left many of his more experienced teammates raving about his skills.</p>
<p>&ldquo;I know when I was his age and a freshman in college I definitely wasn&rsquo;t ready for that type of hockey,&rdquo; Hendricks said.</p>
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<td><strong><span class="inline inline-none"><img src="http://ushockeymagazine.com/sites/default/files/images/900225611.img_assist_custom-226x320.jpg" alt="Matt Hendricks provided solid leadership on and off the ice as the captain of the U.S. squad." title="Matt Hendricks provided solid leadership on and off the ice as the captain of the U.S. squad." class="image image-img_assist_custom-226x320 " width="226" height="320" /><span class="caption" style="width: 224px;">Matt Hendricks provided solid leadership on and off the ice as the captain of the U.S. squad.</span></span></strong></td>
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<p>&ldquo;USA Hockey has done a tremendous job preparing these guys. They&rsquo;re not just skilled players who can shoot the puck, they understand how to play a professional game.&rdquo;</p>
<p>The U.S. kept the momentum going by toppling Switzerland in the quarterfinals, and matched the Russians stride for stride until a flurry of goals in the final 10 minutes sank their golden hopes.</p>
<p>&ldquo;We carried the game for 50 minutes and [Russia] outplayed us for 10, and that&rsquo;s when they won the game,&rdquo; said Vancouver Canucks center Nick Bonino. &ldquo;They had a lot of bona fide NHL stars and we fought them all the way to the middle of the third period.&rdquo;</p>
<p>With less than 48 hours to rebound from the stinging loss, the U.S. rode the hot hand of Hellebuyck, who outdueled fellow Winnipeg Jets netminder Ondrej Pavelec in front of a packed house at Prague&rsquo;s O2 Arena.</p>
<p>&ldquo;The common denominator for us winning this [bronze medal] game was #37.&nbsp; He was the reason why we won,&rdquo; said U.S. Head Coach Todd Richards.</p>
<p>The win sent Czech superstar Jaromir Jagr into retirement and the U.S. players heading home with a bronze-medal firmly in their grasp.</p>
<p>&ldquo;We were excited to be here and be a part of it. A few of us haven&rsquo;t played for the U.S. before and a lot of us haven&rsquo;t played in a world championship,&rdquo; said forward Ben Smith, who registered two goals in his first international appearance.</p>
<p>&ldquo;It was a great opportunity to come here and play against some great competition and see what we could do.&rdquo;</p>
<p>And show the world what they could do.</p>
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<a href="/issue/2015-06">2015-06</a> </div>
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http://www.usahockeymagazine.com/article/2015-06/bronze-anything-bust#comments2015 IIHF World ChampionshipsBronze MedalUS mens national teamFeatureWed, 24 Jun 2015 15:08:02 +0000admin11742 at http://www.usahockeymagazine.comA Matter Of Providencehttp://www.usahockeymagazine.com/article/2015-06/matter-providence
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After Setting The Table At Union College, Nate Leaman Delivers An NCAA Title To Rhode Island </div>
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By:&nbsp;</div>
<a href="/node/37">Jess Myers</a> </div>
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<p><span class="inline inline-none"><img src="http://usahockeymagazine.com/sites/default/files/images/p.58_optimized.jpg" alt="" title="" class="image image-_original " width="525" height="389" /></span></p>
<p>A wave of feelings washed over Trevor Mingoia as he watched his old friends hoist the NCAA championship trophy in 2014.</p>
<p>Mingoia spent time at Union College before both he and head coach Nate Leaman departed for Rhode Island. And here they were, months later, watching their old team enjoying the fruits of their labor after defeating the University of Minnesota to win the NCAA crown.</p>
<p>If they had primarily felt anger, or resentment, or regret, or even happiness for their old friends from Union, it would&rsquo;ve been understandable. But for Mingoia one feeling dominated all the other thoughts rolling around in his head that night.</p>
<p>Motivation.</p>
<p>Mingoia and his Friars teammates needed only to think of Union hoisting the NCAA title trophy &ndash; after beating Providence in the regional final two weeks earlier &ndash; and the drive to do whatever was needed to bring the same glory to their school came a bit easier.</p>
<p>&ldquo;It was a long summer,&rdquo; admits Leaman. &ldquo;When you lose to the eventual national champs, you always wonder how close you were.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Leaman played small-school college hockey at SUNY Cortland in Upstate New York before turning his attention to coaching, where as a volunteer assistant coach he helped to guide the University of Maine to the NCAA title in 1999.</p>
<p>In 2003 he got his big break when he was hired to run the show at Union, which had never before been a real contender for NCAA tournament appearances. He spent eight seasons at the Schenectady, N.Y., school, taking the Dutchmen from &ldquo;also ran&rdquo; status to the ECAC title and was named the national coach of the year in 2011 after Union earned its first-ever NCAA tournament berth. In his final game as coach of the Dutchmen, Leaman lost to the eventual national champions, the University of Minnesota Duluth.</p>
<p>A short time later, the Providence job opened up and Leaman made the move to the renowned Hockey East conference. Before long he had the Friars on the fast track to the Frozen Four for the first time since the program flourished in the mid-1980s. But that trek up the mountain came to an abrupt halt in the 2014 regional final game in Bridgeport, Conn., when the Friars season ended at the hands of a familiar foe.</p>
<p><span class="inline inline-none"><img src="http://usahockeymagazine.com/sites/default/files/images/469236386.jpg" alt="" title="" class="image image-_original " width="525" height="416" /></span></p>
<p>Union, now coached by Leaman&rsquo;s successor, Rick Bennett, would go on to upset a pair of NCAA powerhouses in Boston College and Minnesota to bring home the school&rsquo;s first hockey title.</p>
<p>&ldquo;That&rsquo;s a program that I have been pretty close to, so I hated to lose that game, but I was happy for them,&rdquo; Leaman says. &ldquo;I knew how good that senior class was, because I had coached them as freshmen. And you don&rsquo;t want to leave a program and see something fall apart, you want continued success.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Mingoia was one of those Union recruits, but never played for Leaman there, and eventually left the program. After toiling for a Junior hockey team in Nebraska, he was re-recruited by Leaman and eventually came to Providence.</p>
<p>For those who play under Leaman, success comes from constant improvement and sticking to simple rules that, when followed, produce on-ice results.</p>
<p>&ldquo;Nate is intense, but he can relate to the guys. It&rsquo;s never personal, it&rsquo;s always about making the team better,&rdquo; says Steve Miller, Leaman&rsquo;s top assistant coach last season.</p>
<p>&ldquo;He doesn&rsquo;t have 50 messages for the team. He has three messages, and makes sure they focus on the core things. The biggest message he drills into them every day is to be a great competitor.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Knowing their talent and competitive nature, expectations for the Friars could hardly have been higher as the most recent season began. They were picked to win Hockey East, and ranked as high as third in the nation. But as often happens, those expectations can be hard to meet. After a slow start, the Friars would eventually finish tied for second in the conference, behind Boston University.</p>
<p>Things came to a screeching halt in the opening round of the conference tournament, when the Friars were upset by New Hampshire in a three-game series. Instead of charging toward the NCAA tournament, the Friars found themselves needing good fortune just to get in.</p>
<p>After a series of upsets elsewhere, things looked bleak for the Friars, but the numbers-crunchers knew that if Minnesota beat the University of Michigan in the Big Ten tournament&rsquo;s final game, Providence would make the 16-team field. Miller admits finding a recording of the Golden Gophers&rsquo; fight song and playing it over and over that day.</p>
<p>Fortune smiled on the Friars that night, as Minnesota won, and Providence made the NCAA tourney field as what seemed like a new team. They also received a fortunate venue for their regional &ndash; the arena in downtown Providence, just a few miles from the team&rsquo;s home rink.</p>
<p>The Friars had never played hockey there, but fed off the energy of the friendly crowd to upset Miami University in a high-scoring affair, then beat Denver in the regional final, advancing to the Frozen Four for the first time in 30 years.</p>
<p>An hour or so up the road in Boston, Leaman&rsquo;s team held off first-timer University of Nebraska Omaha in the national semifinals to secure a date with conference rival BU in the title game.</p>
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<td><strong><span class="inline inline-none"><img src="http://usahockeymagazine.com/sites/default/files/images/484640369.img_assist_custom-235x319.jpg" alt="Rick Bennett took over for Nate Leaman at Union College and brought the Dutchmen to the pinnacle of college hockey when they won the 2014 NCAA title." title="Rick Bennett took over for Nate Leaman at Union College and brought the Dutchmen to the pinnacle of college hockey when they won the 2014 NCAA title." class="image image-img_assist_custom-235x319 " width="235" height="319" /><span class="caption" style="width: 233px;">Rick Bennett took over for Nate Leaman at Union College and brought the Dutchmen to the pinnacle of college hockey when they won the 2014 NCAA title.</span></span></strong></td>
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<p>As the clock ticked down inside TD Garden, the Friars could feel their championship hopes slipping away. With 10 minutes to play, the Terriers held a 3-2 lead and were pressuring Friars goalie Jon Gillies for more. That&rsquo;s when fate stepped in. A misplay by the BU goalie Matt O&rsquo;Connor tied the game, and two minutes later a goal off of a faceoff play gave the Friars the lead.</p>
<p>It was time to turn things over to Gilles, whose 49-save effort helped earn him tournament MVP honors and bring the NCAA hockey title to Rhode Island.</p>
<p>Now it was time for Mingoia and Leaman to share the feeling that their former Union teammates had experienced a year earlier.</p>
<p>&ldquo;Things got pretty crazy and pretty busy for awhile there,&rdquo; Leaman says as he recalled the whirlwind post-title times, which included the team throwing out the first pitch at Fenway Park, and more than one trip to the Rhode Island Statehouse to be honored by the people of the state.</p>
<p>&ldquo;We were the smallest school in the tournament, and we&rsquo;re in the smallest state in the nation, so this has been a pretty important thing for our school, our community and our state.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Always looking forward to the next challenge, Leaman admits today that he doesn&rsquo;t dwell on what his team did over the course of the season. He can&rsquo;t afford to with a busy life at home raising three young children with his wife Alice. Still, there are moments when his career accomplishments unexpectedly hit home.</p>
<p>&ldquo;I went to my son&rsquo;s tee-ball game not too long ago, and in the stands, one of the parents had a Providence National Champions hat on,&rdquo; Leaman says. &ldquo;That was a pretty incredible feeling.&rdquo;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h6>Jess Myers is a freelance writer and youth hockey volunteer in Inver Grove Heights, Minn.<br /></h6>
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http://www.usahockeymagazine.com/article/2015-06/matter-providence#commentsCollege HockeyNate LeamanncaaFeatureWed, 24 Jun 2015 14:50:40 +0000admin11737 at http://www.usahockeymagazine.comHosts With The Mosthttp://www.usahockeymagazine.com/article/2015-06/hosts-most
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Buoyed By The Home Crowd, U.S. Sled Team Puts Golden Cap On Perfect Season </div>
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By:&nbsp;</div>
<a href="/node/12">Harry Thompson</a> </div>
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<p><span class="inline inline-none"><img src="http://www.ushockeymagazine.net/sites/default/files/images/20150501-USA-v-NOR_0652.jpg" alt="" title="" class="image image-_original " width="525" height="350" /></span></p>
<p>Located on the corner of Washington and Scott Streets, just a stone&rsquo;s throw from the First Niagara Center, the home of the Buffalo Sabres, sits 716 Food and Sports, a sports bar and restaurant.</p>
<p>Boasting one of the largest television screens in North America, it is a popular destination for local sports fans on most nights of the week. But on what was hailed as the greatest weekend in sports history, it was standing room only in early May as patrons jockeyed for position to watch everything from a triple crown horse race to a mega-million dollar prize fight.</p>
<p>Towering six floors above the noise and the nachos, the newly constructed HarborCenter was also playing host to an event that featured all the speed of the Kentucky Derby while packing more punch than the Floyd Mayweather vs. Manny Pacquiao boxing match.</p>
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<p>The U.S. and Canada slugged it out for three intense rounds in a battle for sled hockey supremacy in the gold-medal game at the 2015 IPC World Sled Hockey Championships. And when the final bell sounded, it was the hosts who came out on top with a 3-0 victory to take home their third World Championship title.</p>
<p>It also capped a remarkable year in which the U.S. went undefeated for the first time with a 12-1-0-0 (W-OTW-OTL-L) record, while outscoring its opponents 59 to 6.</p>
<p>But more than just the coronation of another sled hockey world champion, this North American showdown was a showcase for a sport that continues to gain new fans who marvel at the speed, the skill and the ferocity with which the game is played.</p>
<p>The gold-medal game was not only broadcast in prime time to a national television audience, it was played in front of a sellout crowd of 1,598 at the HarborCenter, which marked the largest crowd to see a sled hockey game on home ice since the gold-medal game of the 2002 Paralympics in Salt Lake City.</p>
<p>&ldquo;The crowd was super loud. You get high off of everyone screaming and cheering you on,&rdquo; said Nikko Landeros, one of 11 holdovers from the gold-medal winning team at the 2014 Paralympics.</p>
<p><strong><span class="inline inline-none"><img src="http://www.ushockeymagazine.net/sites/default/files/images/20150429-USA-v-ITA_0435.jpg" alt="The play of terrific teens Declan Farmer (16) and Brody Roybal (4) helped pace the U.S. National Sled Team to an undefeated season." title="The play of terrific teens Declan Farmer (16) and Brody Roybal (4) helped pace the U.S. National Sled Team to an undefeated season." class="image image-_original " width="525" height="350" /><span class="caption" style="width: 523px;">The play of terrific teens Declan Farmer (16) and Brody Roybal (4) helped pace the U.S. National Sled Team to an undefeated season.</span></span></strong></p>
<p>Over the years the U.S. Sled Team has enjoyed the backing of family and friends, who travel to the ends of the earth to support the red, white and blue. But that small pocket of support can often be drowned out in a building packed with those cheering for the opposition. So having a raucous crowd behind them in Buffalo brought added incentive to a team that is already the class of the sled <br />hockey world.</p>
<p>&ldquo;It gives you that extra little boost to get up in the morning and get ready to go play,&rdquo; said Josh Pauls, who was named the tournament&rsquo;s top defenseman.</p>
<p>&ldquo;Even if you have a bad shift and they&rsquo;re chanting U-S-A, it just makes you want to get back out there and go crush someone or put the puck in the net or do something good.&rdquo;</p>
<p>USA Hockey brought the event to the shores of Lake Erie because of its long-time relationship with the Sabres and a belief that the local hockey community would support an event that has historically been held with little fanfare. And true to form, both the Sabres and the city didn&rsquo;t disappoint.</p>
<p>It helped that two of the U.S. players, Adam Page and Paul Schaus, had ties to the community. And both gave their supporters plenty to cheer about as Page led the U.S. in points while Schaus was at his physical best while chipping in a pair of timely goals.</p>
<p>&ldquo;The whole tournament I was just focused on my game and went and had fun with it the entire week,&rdquo; said Page, who was front and center with local media throughout the tournament. &ldquo;It was really a great week for me, but I couldn&rsquo;t have done it without my linemates, too, so hats off to them.&rdquo;</p>
<p>From the drop of the puck against Russia in the tournament opener until the final buzzer signaled the end of the title game, the fans gave the U.S. players something that means as much as the gold medal hanging around their neck. They gave them the respect that is given to any athlete who wears the red, white and blue on the international arena.</p>
<p>&ldquo;These guys normally don&rsquo;t play in front of a lot of fans, and we haven&rsquo;t had a lot of home games over the course of time. But this is a great crowd and it was a great atmosphere,&rdquo; said U.S. Head Coach Jeff Sauer.</p>
<p>&ldquo;We sold the sport today, both in Canada and the U.S. It&rsquo;s great that so many people had the opportunity to see these athletes perform. I thought they did an excellent job today. Both teams played hard, they played well, and you can sell tickets to this game today.&rdquo;</p>
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<p>As one of only two players on this year&rsquo;s squad who played in the World Championships the last time they were held in the U.S. in 2008, goaltender Steve Cash said the week was just another example of how far the sport has come in such a relatively short amount of time.</p>
<p>&ldquo;It just shows the huge potential the sport has,&rdquo; said Cash, who backstopped the U.S. to a third World Championship title in addition to a pair of Paralympic gold medals.</p>
<p>&ldquo;Since I first started playing in 2005 my family was struggling to find streams of the Torino Games in 2006, and just to see it go from little tidbits here and there on the computer to having it played live on network TV in the middle of a Sunday is great.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Thanks to the support from the local community, and the national television coverage, there is a new legion of sled hockey fans around the country. And where once they toiled in relative anonymity, now names like Cash, Farmer, Roybal and Landeros are quickly becoming household names with USA Hockey fans everywhere.</p>
<p>It also gives future generations of disabled athletes the chance to dream that wearing the red, white and blue and hearing the U-S-A chant echoing around the rink is a reachable goal.</p>
<p>&ldquo;To win a World Championship on home soil is special, and I can definitely say that I&rsquo;ll look back in a few years and say that people were able to live it through us,&rdquo; Cash said.</p>
<p>&ldquo;A lot of time in the past we&rsquo;ve won big games like this in other countries. The fact that fans got to come out and support us and see us come out on top makes it a great feeling.&rdquo;</p>
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<a href="/issue/2015-06">2015-06</a> </div>
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http://www.usahockeymagazine.com/article/2015-06/hosts-most#commentsU.S. Sled Hockey TeamWorld ChampionshipsFeatureTue, 23 Jun 2015 13:42:16 +0000admin11731 at http://www.usahockeymagazine.comRedemption In Redhttp://www.usahockeymagazine.com/article/2015-06/redemption-red
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Filmmaker Gabe Polsky Rediscovered His Love Of The Game While Making And Promoting “Red Army” </div>
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<p><span class="inline inline-none"><img src="http://usahockeymagazine.com/sites/default/files/images/RED-ARMY---Director-Gabe-Polsky-Courtesy-of-Sony-Pictures-Classics5.jpg" alt="" title="" class="image image-_original " width="525" height="374" /></span></p>
<p>Gabe Polsky didn&rsquo;t set out to make a hockey movie when he created &ldquo;Red Army,&rdquo; but he hopes that in some small way his film about the rise and fall of the Soviet Union as a global hockey power will influence the way the game is played here in the United States.</p>
<p>After making the rounds of film festivals and art house theaters, the feature documentary is now available on Digital HD, Blu-ray and DVD, which Polsky thinks will open it up to a wider audience, especially in the hockey community.</p>
<p>&ldquo;Slowly but surely, as word started to spread, the response has been great, but I still don&rsquo;t think that it&rsquo;s really penetrated the hockey world yet,&rdquo; Polsky said.</p>
<p>&ldquo;I think it&rsquo;s going to be one of those slow-burning cult films that ultimately catches on through word of mouth.&rdquo;</p>
<p>For those in the game, Polsky hopes that watching the Soviet style of play will inspire them to consider changing how they play and coach the game here at home.</p>
<p>&nbsp;&ldquo;One of my main reasons for doing this is that I believe that the game can be revolutionized again and can keep getting better and keep getting more interesting, not only to play but also to watch,&rdquo; Polsky said.</p>
<p>&ldquo;We need creative thinkers who are leading the sport &ndash; players and coaches. It&rsquo;s critical, or else the game will get stale. These are the kinds of people that we should treasure, and that was a major reason for me to make this film. We&rsquo;re losing track of what&rsquo;s important in the game.&rdquo;</p>
<p>&ldquo;Red Army&rdquo; focuses on the Soviet Union&rsquo;s Red Army hockey team from the perspective of its captain, Viacheslav &ldquo;Slava&rdquo; Fetisov, who stood up to the powerful Soviet system to pave the way for himself and future generations of Russian hockey players into the NHL.</p>
<p><span class="inline inline-left"><img src="http://usahockeymagazine.com/sites/default/files/images/Screen_Shot_2015-06-22_at_1.58.10_PM.preview.png" alt="" title="" class="image image-preview " width="525" height="108" /></span></p>
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<p>One challenge, at least from Polsky&rsquo;s perspective, is that rather than the Russian influence seeping into the North American game, those imported players were forced to adapt to a foreign style of play that flies in the face of their past.</p>
<p>&ldquo;The Soviets always complained about the North American style of play. They said, &lsquo;I don&rsquo;t understand, you work so hard to gain possession of the puck and then you just give it away by dumping it in,&rsquo;&rdquo; he said.</p>
<p>Growing up in the suburbs of Chicago, Polsky received his first taste of the Soviet system of hockey development from Stan Stiopkin, a Russian immigrant who brought a new way of thinking to the Chicago Young Americans youth program.</p>
<p>Aching to learn more about the Soviet style of play, he got his hands on an old VHS copy of the 1987 Canada Cup series and was blown away by the game that only vaguely resembled anything he has seen or played in the United States.</p>
<p>&ldquo;I put that VHS tape in and what I saw was the most amazing hockey that I&rsquo;ve ever seen in my life,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;The Soviets really took hockey to a whole new level, the passing, the combinations, the opportunities that they created every single time they touched the puck.</p>
<p>&ldquo;It really inspired me and made me curious about this team and how they lived. I wondered how under such oppressive conditions in the Soviet Union could such free hockey exist.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Polsky continued to develop his game at a New England prep school and was eventually recruited to attend Yale University. It didn&rsquo;t take long before his ideas of how the game should be played began to&nbsp; clash with those of longtime Bulldogs head coach Tim Taylor. And as usually happens, the coach tends to emerge victorious in a battle of wills.</p>
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<td><strong><span class="inline inline-left"><img src="http://usahockeymagazine.com/sites/default/files/images/Gabecollege.img_assist_custom-213x324.jpg" alt="Gabe Polsky&#039;s career at Yale University never played out the way he had hoped it would." title="Gabe Polsky&#039;s career at Yale University never played out the way he had hoped it would." class="image image-img_assist_custom-213x324 " width="213" height="324" /><span class="caption" style="width: 211px;">Gabe Polsky's career at Yale University never played out the way he had hoped it would.</span></span></strong></td>
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<p>Disillusioned and discouraged, Polsky eventually hung up his skates, uncertain if he would ever touch the ice again. That's when he began to immerse himself in his new career as a filmmaker.</p>
<p>Making &ldquo;Red Army&rdquo; has been therapeutic for Polsky as he tries to make sense of why his hockey career never played out as he thought it would.</p>
<p>&ldquo;In college I had a heartbreaking experience, I mean really heartbreaking, because I didn&rsquo;t think that I got a fair shot,&rdquo; said Polsky, who played in only 27 games over the course of three seasons.</p>
<p>&ldquo;I was left with an incredibly empty feeling and told myself that I don&rsquo;t even know if I&rsquo;ll ever get on the ice again. That kind of feeling, it stays with you, no matter how long you try to bury it and ignore it. It&rsquo;s always there. So when I started making films I was thinking about how I was going to contribute to the world through films the way I never was able to do in hockey.&rdquo;</p>
<p>As he crisscrossed the world promoting &ldquo;Red Army&rdquo; at film festivals and special screenings, Polsky has enjoyed the opportunity to meet and talk hockey with some of the biggest names in the game, from legendary coach Scotty Bowman to Wayne Gretzky.</p>
<p>Along the way he has made peace with his hockey history as he has rediscovered his passion for the game. He found it in the grainy black &amp; white footage of the past, which he believes it holds the key to the future of the game.</p>
<p>&ldquo;I had buried it for so long, but when I started looking at these games and getting back into it I saw the things that made me so passionate about the game, which was the creativity and exceptional playmaking and speed,&rdquo; he said.</p>
<p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s one of the main reasons why I made this film. I want people to understand that you can make the game into something extraordinary and interesting, both to play and to watch.</p>
<p>&ldquo;I was a casualty to the other way of thinking and I felt that I needed to make a story about this. Obviously I have a lot of other things in that story but that&rsquo;s really why I was so passionate about it and what really got me through the whole thing.&rdquo;</p>
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Issue:&nbsp;</div>
<a href="/issue/2015-06">2015-06</a> </div>
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http://www.usahockeymagazine.com/article/2015-06/redemption-red#commentsFeature FilmGabe PolskyRed ArmyFeatureMon, 22 Jun 2015 19:00:05 +0000admin11724 at http://www.usahockeymagazine.comCoaching The Creasehttp://www.usahockeymagazine.com/article/2015-06/coaching-crease
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Coaching Goaltenders Is Not Rocket Science </div>
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By:&nbsp;</div>
<a href="/author/joe-bertagna">Joe Bertagna</a> </div>
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<p><span class="inline inline-none"><img src="http://www.ushockeymagazine.net/sites/default/files/images/Screen_Shot_2015-06-22_at_1.22.45_PM.preview.png" alt="" title="" class="image image-preview " width="525" height="376" /></span></p>
<p>&ldquo;I never played goal so I don&rsquo;t know how to coach goalies,&rdquo; is a common refrain heard at hockey rinks across the country. It&rsquo;s a coach&rsquo;s way of washing his hands of responsibility to his most important player.</p>
<p>Well, a lot of my high school buddies who are youth coaches never played on the power play either but they have taken the time to develop their own man-up strategy.</p>
<p>Coaching goaltenders is not rocket science. Learn the position, help develop your goalies, and raise both your team&rsquo;s record and its level of enjoyment.</p>
<h4>Educate Yourself</h4>
<p>Like anything else, a coach should seek out the assistance of people who have devoted considerable time to the position. There have never been as many books or videos on the market as there are now. Some are better than others, but almost all offer the basics needed to understand the position.</p>
<p>Qualified goalie coaches offer a number of services, not limited to on-ice clinics for kids. Sit down and take a crash course on fundamentals, mechanics, strategies and on-ice drills. Then see if a goalie coach will not only run monthly clinics for the goalies in your program but will also consider an off-ice session with your program&rsquo;s coaches, identifying common goalie errors by age group and common practice extremes by coaches.</p>
<h4>Evaluations</h4>
<p>The first contact between coach and goalie is likely to be tryouts or evaluations. Coaches must create a tryout environment that gives each goalie a fair chance to show what he or she is all about. This means a chance to observe their skating, athleticism, mechanics, game skills and attitude.</p>
<p>Scrimmages are most important because they provide game-like situations. And the evaluations should be conducted so the goalie can be rated on what they do now, not what they did in last year&rsquo;s playoffs. It is best to conduct &ldquo;blind evaluations,&rdquo; where the evaluator only knows the goalie&rsquo;s number and not his name or credentials. Bring in an outside evaluator, perhaps, whose only job is to rank the goalies, noting which pairs of goalies are close and which are far apart. With this information, the program people, who know more about the kids (like who is a first-year or second-year player at that level), can place them on the appropriate team.</p>
<p><span class="inline inline-none"><img src="http://www.ushockeymagazine.net/sites/default/files/images/crease1.jpg" alt="" title="" class="image image-_original " width="525" height="410" /></span></p>
<h4>Practices</h4>
<p>The biggest problem in the development of goalies is how they are used at practice. Or, in some cases, not used. A visit to a typical practice will find much of the following:<br />&bull; Goalies being idle, perhaps left by themselves, for long stretches of time, then given 95 percent of their shots in a 20-minute block of time<br />&bull; Drills that are designed to come exclusively at the goalie (not out of the corner, not across ice)<br />&bull; Drills with shooters and no defenders, so the goalie sees the puck easily<br />&bull; Drills with no rebounds or screens<br />&bull; Drills where the goalie knows in advance who will shoot and from where<br />&bull; Rapid-fire drills where the goalie faces many pucks, each for a second (as opposed to games, where the goalie has to deal with one puck for a long time, finding it through feet, staying with it after the shot)</p>
<p>The reality of games (i.e. confusion and unpredictability) should be replicated in practice.</p>
<h4>Get To The Heart Of The Problem</h4>
<p>If your goalie is getting beat on rebounds, you can&rsquo;t just say, &ldquo;You are giving up too many goals on rebounds.&rdquo; You have to know why. Is it a mental error? (He doesn&rsquo;t know the offensive player is there and thinks he is directing the original shot safely.) Or is it a mechanical error? (He sees the guy but isn&rsquo;t able to direct the puck to a safe area.)</p>
<h4>Games</h4>
<p>Two issues a coach must deal with involving games:</p>
<p>The selection of who plays (and how it is communicated), and communication within a game.</p>
<p>As for who plays, participation is a legitimate concern at younger levels. Being part of the game is important. Splitting games is preferable to alternating whole games for the young. However, as they get older, goalies must learn the concentration it takes to play an entire game. Alternating whole games is a more valid</p>
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<h2>During games, positive reinforcement is as important as constructive criticism.</h2>
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<p>option for the older goalies. This also allows for some strategic assignments if there appears to be a stronger goalie and a weaker goalie among your pair.</p>
<p>As for how you tell them, the coach really has no obligation to give advance notice. All goalies should be ready to play at all times. But if you know what you are going to do ahead of time, don&rsquo;t play head games. Let them know.</p>
<p>During games, positive reinforcement is as important as constructive criticism. When the goalie does something well that he has been struggling to achieve, congratulate him and do it so that others can hear it. When the goalies struggle, particularly in effort or concentration, speak to them as you would the others.</p>
<p>Remember: you may refer to &ldquo;the defensemen&rdquo; and &ldquo;the forwards&rdquo; when giving between period critiques and the individuals who play those positions are never singled out. But if only one goalie played that period, everybody in the room knows who you are talking about. Don&rsquo;t baby the goalie but show him the same sensitivity the others receive. And after the game, draw the distinction between &ldquo;responsibility&rdquo; and &ldquo;blame.&rdquo; Goalies make the final mistake on many goals; but it&rsquo;s a good idea to remind everyone in the locker room that others bear some responsibility on those goals allowed as well.</p>
<h6>Joe Bertagna is a former goalie coach with the Boston Bruins (1985-1991) and the 1994 U.S. Olympic Team. He has four instructional videos on goaltending, including his latest one "Goaltending Today: Traditional Values Through New Techniques." To learn more check out bertagnagoaltending.com.</h6>
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<a href="/issue/2015-06">2015-06</a> </div>
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http://www.usahockeymagazine.com/article/2015-06/coaching-crease#commentscoachingdrillsGoalieFeatureMon, 22 Jun 2015 18:34:25 +0000admin11720 at http://www.usahockeymagazine.comServe & Protecthttp://www.usahockeymagazine.com/article/2015-06/serve-protect
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Goalie, Equipment, Performance </div>
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By:&nbsp;</div>
<a href="/author/adam-berkhoel">Adam Berkhoel</a> </div>
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<p><span class="inline inline-none"><img src="http://usahockeymagazine.net/sites/default/files/images/ServeProtect.jpg" alt="" title="" class="image image-_original " width="525" height="599" /></span></p>
<p>The proper fit of goal equipment is extremely important to ensure maximum product performance and protection. Equipment that is too large is heavier than the ideal weight for the user, is off balance and the bend or flex points will be in the wrong locations anatomically for the goaltender&rsquo;s body. Equipment that is too large simply slows a goalie down and prevents precise movement, control and equipment positioning, which will result in hurting the goaltenders performance.</p>
<p>Equipment also needs to be chosen according to each individual&rsquo;s level of play. There are many performance levels of products that overlap in sizing to allow a goaltender to select the appropriate level of protection for their level of play.</p>
<h4>Blocker</h4>
<p>The blocker glove size needs to be selected based on hand size in the palm and how it overlaps with the arm and chest protector.</p>
<p>Each size model has a different size blocking board. The fingers need to be fully extended into the palm and the fingers need to be no more than a quarter inch from the ends of the fingertips of the palm. The thickness of the goaltender's hand needs to fill out the body of the palm as well.</p>
<p>If the blocker is too large the goaltender will find it difficult to deflect pucks to the corners with any control as the glove will twist on the hand. The palm will tend to wear out faster if the glove is too large, as the material in the palm will bunch up causing wear spots. This also degrades stick grip and control.</p>
<h4>Arm &amp; Chest Protector</h4>
<p>Arm and chest protectors are often over looked because it is not an exposed product that parents and coaches see. A properly fitted unit will have the forearm within one inch of the wrist, but not past it. The chest pad should extend 3 to 4 inches past the belly button and have coverage extending over the lower rib cage area. The shoulders should be wide enough to give good coverage over the collarbone and outer shoulder area.</p>
<p>The unit should be adjusted so it sits and stays near the neckline. The goaltender should be able to cross his arms in front of his body and raise his arms over his head freely. When in a crouched position the chest pad should not shift upward or bulge out. If it does, it is too large. If the arms are too long, the bend points are not located properly and the padding bunches up reducing arm movement and pushes against the gloves causing poor performance.</p>
<p>Typically in smaller goaltenders, a unit will last about two seasons of growth. The arm and chest pad is the core of the goaltenders equipment and proper fit is essential for smooth, fluid athletic motion and body protection and gives the goaltender confidence in not being afraid of body impacts.</p>
<h4>Mask</h4>
<p>Goal mask fit is imperative to achieve maximum protection and sight lines.&nbsp; All the certification testing is done on a head form in the prescribed size of the mask. Trying to wear a mask that is too large or has gotten too small really negates all these test results.</p>
<p>Another issue is head coverage. Many masks are very shallow so the rear skull plate extends too far back exposing the back of the head. Make sure that the full head is covered to ensure protection.</p>
<p>At 2 years of age a child&rsquo;s head is usually within 75 percent of full size, so masks or helmets will tend to last several years but should be checked often for any damage to the shell or cage area. Make sure all padding is secure and screws and clips are intact and there are no broken, bent or damaged bars on the cage.</p>
<p>A goal mask that is too large moves and twists on the head; not only is protection compromised but visibility is usually poor as the bars are not aligned with the field of vision. When the mask is too large the chin will hit the chest area limiting head motion and also impact the side shoulder areas limiting head rotation as well.</p>
<p>Many young goalies simply are not large enough yet to handle a goal mask. A helmet and cage is a more appropriate selection. You can only tell this by trying on a mask with the arm and chest pad on and looking for good head motion with no interference. At the younger ages puck velocity is not enough to worry about the protection difference.</p>
<h4>Catching Glove</h4>
<p>Catching glove size needs to be selected based on the individual goaltenders hand size. The fingers need to extend up far enough so they have leverage to close the glove properly. The tip of the thumb and fingers are far enough into the glove so it is not sloppy or loose on the hand.</p>
<p>If a glove is too large it is difficult to close to retain pucks. Shots around the perimeter will twist the glove on the hand and be difficult to maneuver precisely and quickly to maximize performance.</p>
<p>Too often young goalies jump from a junior youth size right to a full adult size causing them to struggle. The proper selection would have been an intermediate size.</p>
<p>You can&rsquo;t just rely on tightening all the straps to hold a glove on. The glove has to be the right size to ensure proper fit.</p>
<h4>Leg Pads</h4>
<p>Leg pads, being the largest piece of equipment and having the most weight, need to be carefully selected. When the pads are new and tried on with skates properly attached to the pad, the knee should be located just below the middle of the knee cradle while goaltender is in his or her butterfly. The top of the pads should be no more than two-thirds the distance between the knee and hip. Pads taller than this pose a few problems. Movement becomes difficult.</p>
<p>Goaltenders are often told a taller pad will help close their five-hole area when in a butterfly position. This is actually wrong. If a leg pad is too tall when the goaltender goes down into a butterfly, the tops of the pads will come together and hit at the top before the pads impact the ice. It pushes the knees outward putting stress on the groin, which contributes to pulled groin muscles.</p>
<p>This also delays the formation of the butterfly leaving a momentary hesitation of the pads closing. This exposes the five-hole, which is extremely undesirable. Pads too tall typically keep the goaltender from extending his feet outward causing a narrow butterfly, which also gives the goaltender less balance and stability on the ice.</p>
<p>Proper pad sizing will allow for the pads to have complete on-ice seal while in the butterfly position.</p>
<h4>Pants</h4>
<p>Goalie pants should fit much differently than a player&rsquo;s pants as the cut is completely different. Goalie pants are designed to move side to side, are shorter in the thigh length, more open in the waist and have a loser fit than players&rsquo; pants.</p>
<p>Pants should bend easy at the waist and use suspenders to hold them up. The pant belt is just to snug up slightly, not to hold the pant up. When going into a butterfly position the thigh areas should sit parallel to each other and close enough to reduce five-hole openings. The chest pad can be positioned either over the pants or inside the pants.</p>
<p>It is the preference of a goaltender, not a rule of fit on this choice, but a goaltender may go a size larger if wearing the chest on the inside of the pant. Pants that fit tight when bending in a crouched position will squeeze at the waist and be uncomfortable and limit body moment. Pants that are too small will keep the thigh areas from sealing together in a butterfly exposing the five-hole area.</p>
<p>I have seen many times where a goaltender thinks they need taller pads to cover their five-hole when the problem is really they need new pants</p>
<h4>Conclusion</h4>
<p>I estimate that 80 percent of goaltenders under the age of 12 are wearing gear that does not fit well and is hindering their movement. This is not a good thing when a young goaltender is trying to learn the position. Each individual goaltender needs to select gear that fits them properly and not just buy larger gear that they will hopefully grow into.</p>
<h6>Adam Berkhoel is a former professional goaltender who now works for Vaughn Hockey.</h6>
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<a href="/issue/2015-06">2015-06</a> </div>
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http://www.usahockeymagazine.com/article/2015-06/serve-protect#commentsFeatureMon, 22 Jun 2015 18:15:20 +0000admin11717 at http://www.usahockeymagazine.comTalkin' Bout' Practice'http://www.usahockeymagazine.com/article/2015-06/talkin-bout-practice
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Practice Is The Time To Develop Your Skills </div>
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By:&nbsp;</div>
<a href="/author/jason-power">Jason Power</a> </div>
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<p><span class="inline inline-none"><img src="http://www.usahockeymagazine.com/sites/default/files/images/Practice.jpg" alt="" title="" class="image image-_original " width="525" height="281" /></span></p>
<p>Too often young goalies and their parents place too much emphasis on what happens in games. But when was the last time in school you failed your homework assignment but remained confident that you would ace a test? For parents, it&rsquo;s the equivalent of calling in sick every day at work but still hoping to land a big promotion.</p>
<p>The fact of the matter is practices should become your new game.</p>
<p>A coach&rsquo;s job is to develop his or her players. This does not happen in games. What you do, however, in practices will carry over to games and can help you be more successful.</p>
<p>Ever notice how much you or a friend improves with a week of hockey camp? In that type of an environment you are doing drills based on repetition and habits. Since the ice times are goalie focused, it&rsquo;s the equivalent of a full season worth of practice. Why not take those skills learned at camp and apply them to every practice during the season?</p>
<p>Let&rsquo;s take a look at some key habits of top goalies and identify their practice habits. Keep in mind only you, the goalie, can do these. No coach can stand there and make you perform them. Habits are what separate the best from those sitting on the bench.</p>
<p>Good habits start before you hit the ice. Eating properly is important, especially on days when you have ice times. Do you have a favorite stretching routine for games? Make sure you are doing that same routine before practices, too.</p>
<p>When you hit the ice, there are habits that goalies need to address. First and foremost, always follow the puck. Too often young goalies move their head and watch the puck but their body is frozen. A goalie needs to track the puck with the center of his body at all times so he is best prepared for the shot.</p>
<p>The key to this habit is what happens after the shot, the rebound. When giving up a rebound it&rsquo;s key for the goalie to track the puck, again with his body and not just his eyes, and follow the rebound. This one simple habit can help prevent a lot of goals from happening.</p>
<p>It&rsquo;s common for a goalie in practice to see more than a hundred shots. Imagine if you followed the rebound on every shot for a week. It becomes pretty easy to do it 20 to 30 times in a game.</p>
<p>Don&rsquo;t worry about the next shooter in the drill, you need to develop yourself and follow the first shot's rebound. Get in a rhythm and establish timing in the drills.</p>
<p>Another key habit for practices is to work on your recovery. In today&rsquo;s goaltending too often goalies slide into the post for a jam play or drop into a butterfly and just sit there. You will notice a young goalie&rsquo;s body slowly begins to lower itself to the ice as he becomes fatigued. A goalie should only be down for a three count before attempting to recover to his feet. If he stays down too long in one spot the puck carriers find options and create other opportunities. Don&rsquo;t get caught sitting. You will always move quicker on your feet than sliding.</p>
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<h2 style="text-align: center;">Habits are what separate the best from those sitting on the bench.</h2>
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<p>Remember you are a key part of the team. You also have the best seat in the house and can see the entire ice whereas your teammates might have their concentration alone on the puck.</p>
<p>Most goalies in the NHL are very vocal, sometimes so much you can hear them on your television. You are essentially a quarterback and need to call out to your teammates. Let them know you have the puck carrier, tell them if they have someone close to them trying to take the puck, or direct them to your open wingers for breakouts.</p>
<p>Also, most importantly, let them know if you can see or not. Many times your defensemen are so focused on the puck carrier they do not know they are blocking your vision of the puck. Make sure you are going out of your way to tell them.</p>
<p>Finally, the most important habit is to always battle. You need to try on every single shot. Get hungry for the puck and work on placing rebounds where you want them. Move fiercely through your crease to cover any puck that you can reach.</p>
<p>Imagine if you gave 100 percent on every single shot? Your teammates would see that and they would begin to practice harder. As a unified team, come game time, no one would stand a chance against you.<br />And most importantly since your practices are full of good habits, your games will come easier and you will have more fun. After all, that&rsquo;s why you signed up for the position.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h6>Jason Power is a Level 5 coach who is a Missouri Player Development committee.</h6>
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http://www.usahockeymagazine.com/article/2015-06/talkin-bout-practice#commentsGoaliesHabitspracticeFeatureMon, 22 Jun 2015 17:49:36 +0000admin11714 at http://www.usahockeymagazine.com5 Ways To Improve Your Goaltendinghttp://www.usahockeymagazine.com/article/2015-06/5-ways-improve-your-goaltending
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<a href="/author/keith-allain">Keith Allain</a> </div>
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<p>A goaltender in hockey is the single most important position in all of team sports. Still, many coaches are uncomfortable working with their goalies. We have all been to clinics and listened to great discussions regarding the technical aspects of goaltending.</p>
<p>Hopefully this discussion will give you some concrete practical applications to improve the skills of goaltenders of all ages and skill levels.</p>
<p>Five topics to improve goaltending skills:<br />&bull; Skating<br />&bull; Positioning<br />&bull; Make practices &ldquo;goalie friendly&rdquo;<br />&bull; Help your goalie evaluate his game performance<br />&bull; Develop a work ethic</p>
<h4>1 // Skating</h4>
<h5>&ldquo;Skating is the key. Goalies must be able to move in all directions, as quickly as possible, to react/recover and make an abrupt, balanced transition from one move to another, while staying in their stance, ready to make a save.&rdquo; &ndash; Mitch Korn</h5>
<p>Skating is the single most important skill for playing goal. While you may not log as many miles around the rink as a forward or defenseman, a goaltender&rsquo;s skating skills are essential in playing well between the pipes.</p>
<p>Coaches need to help their goaltenders with their skating every day. That can be done through skating drills, or through exercises that improve movement around the crease.</p>
<p>A goalie must be able to move well while maintaining a good &ldquo;ready position,&rdquo; minimizing any holes for a shooter to aim at.</p>
<p>Concentrate on quality repetitions to create proper muscle memory.</p>
<h4>2 // Positioning</h4>
<h5>&ldquo;When I am on my game, I only need to move an inch in either direction to make a save. If you see me making a spectacular save, I am struggling with my game.&rdquo; &ndash; Bernie Parent</h5>
<p>A sliding two-pad save or lunging glove save may look flashier than a shot that is drilled into a goaltender&rsquo;s midsection, but it&rsquo;s likely caused by poor positioning.</p>
<p>A well-positioned goalie has a better chance of being hit by a shot. You want your goalie to be centered, square and out on an angle.</p>
<p>You must be constantly aware of your goalie&rsquo;s positioning during games and practices, and create drills that work on staying square to the shooter.</p>
<p><strong><span class="inline inline-none"><img src="http://usahockeymagazine.com/sites/default/files/images/5ways_goalie1.jpg" alt="You want your goaltender to be centered, square and out on an angle to give himself or herself the best opportunity to make a difficult save look easy." title="You want your goaltender to be centered, square and out on an angle to give himself or herself the best opportunity to make a difficult save look easy." class="image image-_original " width="525" height="374" /><span class="caption" style="width: 523px;">You want your goaltender to be centered, square and out on an angle to give himself or herself the best opportunity to make a difficult save look easy.</span></span></strong></p>
<h4>3 // Make Practice &ldquo;Goalie Friendly&rdquo;</h4>
<h5>&ldquo;Skill, as it pertains to basketball, is the knowledge and the ability to quickly and properly execute the fundamentals. Being able to do them is not enough. They must be done quickly. And being able to do them quickly isn&rsquo;t enough, either. They must be done quickly and precisely at the right time. You must learn in practice to react properly, almost instinctively.&rdquo; &ndash; John Wooden</h5>
<p>A proper warm up is important. Start games and practices with drills that help a goaltender get loose and gain confidence. Remember, warm up drills are meant to warm up the goaltender, not to practice goal scoring. Tell your skaters to get their shots on net.</p>
<p>Make shooting drills as game-like as possible by providing traffic in front of the goalie and creating opportunities for rebrounds and scrums in front of net.</p>
<h4>4 // Help Your Goalie Evaluate Performance</h4>
<h5>&ldquo;Experience is a cruel teacher because it gives you the test first and the lesson afterward.&rdquo; &ndash; Anonymous</h5>
<p>Goals scored against a goaltender often offer great lessons. Take advantage of them by talking with goaltenders about what they did right and wrong on the play. A goaltender may have executed all the right moves, put himself or herself in the proper position to make the save and then forgot to close the five-hole. It&rsquo;s important to stress the positives as well as point out the negatives.</p>
<p>Encourage an honest dialogue to get your goalie thinking about and questioning his thought process.</p>
<p>Analyze situations that arose in the game. What did the goalie see? What if anything might he or she have done differently?</p>
<p>Develop measurable standards or goals for each game to see where progress is made and what are the greatest areas that need improvement.</p>
<h4>5 // Develop A Work Ethic</h4>
<h5>&ldquo;How does a goalie go about gaining confidence? There is only one way, and that is from working hard, hard enough to realize you are giving maximum effort and can&rsquo;t be expected to give more. If you cheat on yourself, if you are giving less than your best, you know it. And with this knowledge, it is very difficult to feel confident. There are no short cuts. No magic.&rdquo; &ndash; Joe Bertagna</h5>
<p>Goaltenders&rsquo; work ethic is often overlooked. Many times coaches allow their goalies to be lazy. It&rsquo;s your responsibility to demand consistency in terms of effort. Your goalie must be the team leader in setting the work standards for the team. By competing hard for every shot, your goalie challenges his or her teammates to be better every day, and also improves his or her own skills.</p>
<h6>Keith Allain is the head coach at Yale University and served as the head coach of the 2011 U.S. National Junior Team.</h6>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
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http://www.usahockeymagazine.com/article/2015-06/5-ways-improve-your-goaltending#commentsGoaliePositioningSkatingTechniqueFeatureMon, 22 Jun 2015 17:11:36 +0000admin11708 at http://www.usahockeymagazine.comCoach Looks To Strike A Winning Balance At Nationalshttp://www.usahockeymagazine.com/article/2015-04/coach-looks-strike-winning-balance-nationals
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<a href="/author/john-tranchina">John Tranchina</a> </div>
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<p>Some teams are just happy to reach the Toyota-USA Hockey National Championships. Others are all business and 100 percent focused on the task at hand.</p>
<p>Chris Ferazzolli felt it was important to strike a balance between the two extremes when it came to preparing his Tampa Elite team for the 16 &amp; Under Tier II tournament.</p>
<p>Skating in the 16-team 2A division, most of the Elite&rsquo;s players had never played in a National Championship tournament before. Still, Ferazzolli was confident that their experiences during the season, especially their battles with the crosstown rival Tampa Scorpions (the team that would eventually be crowned the 2A national champs) had prepared them for the increased intensity and skill level they would face in the Dallas suburbs of Plano and Farmers Branch.</p>
<p>&ldquo;You&rsquo;ve got to know that every game you come in, you&rsquo;re going to play a top team, probably the top team from their state. Just to get this far, you&rsquo;ve got to know you did a lot right to get here,&rdquo; said the 34-year-old coach, originally from Floral Park, N.Y. &ldquo;You make sure your players know what to expect and just keep reminding them of the little things we&rsquo;ve harped on all year. You talk to them about nutrition and getting the proper sleep and staying in a consistent routine.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Assessing their tournament schedule, the Elite knew its first two games would be tough tasks, especially the opening contest against the Ashburn (Va.) Xtreme, so Ferazzolli tried to keep the team a little more under wraps for the first couple of days.</p>
<p><span class="inline inline-none"><img src="http://www.usahockeymagazine.net/sites/default/files/images/Coach.jpg" alt="" title="" class="image image-_original " width="525" height="350" /></span></p>
<p>&ldquo;You know you&rsquo;re playing the No. 2 team in the country on the first day, so you want to stay focused and get them settled in after traveling,&rdquo; Ferazzolli said. In the end, the plan worked as the Elite held on to beat the Xtreme, 3-2, to open the tournament, and closed out the preliminary round with a 16-0 drubbing of the New Hampshire East Eagles. In between, a 2-0 loss to the eventual finalist Affton (Mo.) Americans would prove to be the team&rsquo;s downfall as it missed qualifying for the quarterfinals due to the goal differential tiebreaker.</p>
<p>By then the coach had loosened the reins a little and allowed his players to do some sightseeing and take in an Allen Americans hockey game. It was time to enjoy the fruits of a long and successful season.</p>
<h5></h5>
<h5>John Tranchina is a freelance writer from Broken Arrow, Okla.</h5>
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http://www.usahockeymagazine.com/article/2015-04/coach-looks-strike-winning-balance-nationals#comments2015 National ChampionshipsChris FerazzolicoachingFeatureFri, 24 Apr 2015 20:41:27 +0000admin11482 at http://www.usahockeymagazine.comWatching Son Compete At Nationals A Proud Moment For Pophttp://www.usahockeymagazine.com/article/2015-04/watching-son-compete-nationals-proud-moment-pop
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<p>Whenever the Mid-Fairfield Rangers are playing, you can always find Charlie Shaffer in his usual spot behind the opposition&rsquo;s goal. It&rsquo;s the best place for him to watch his son, of the same name, skate as a member of the Stamford, Conn., team.</p>
<p>Such was the case in late March as Shaffer positioned himself along the glass at the Amherst Center in Upstate New York.</p>
<p>But this was no ordinary game. This was his son&rsquo;s first game competing at the Toyota-USA Hockey National Championships in the 14 &amp; Under Tier I division.</p>
<p>It was the culmination of a dream and the crowning jewel to a long hockey season. And for now, Shaffer was happy just to take it all in.</p>
<p>&ldquo;All of these teams involved have been working all year to get here. Our team began training in the summer and playing in September, and seven months later here we are in Amherst, N.Y.,&rdquo; Shaffer said.</p>
<p>&ldquo;This is what we wanted to do. To be here with the best kids in the country is exc</p>
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<p><a href="http://touchpointmedia.uberflip.com/i/499071-april-may-2015"><strong>Check out the Digital <br />Edition to view all 2015 Toyota-USA Hockey National Championship winners.</strong></a></p>
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<p>iting for everyone from the players to the coaches to the parents.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Shaffer admitted that while punching a team&rsquo;s ticket to Nationals is tough, booking a ticket for the family to be there is not without its challenges.</p>
<p>&ldquo;You hoped you would make it to the Nationals, but you didn&rsquo;t want to jinx it, so you didn&rsquo;t plan too much,&rdquo; he said.</p>
<p>&ldquo;In our case, I made the trip with my son. The rest of the family [his wife and two other children who are involved in lacrosse] is coming up for the second day of the tournament. It&rsquo;s just how things worked out.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Thanks to the advances in technology, those who can&rsquo;t make the trip can still feel like they&rsquo;re part of the experience even though they&rsquo;re hundreds, or even thousands, of miles away.</p>
<p>&ldquo;The technology that they now have is really great," Shaffer said of the live streaming on FASTHockey.</p>
<p>&ldquo;I know that my 73-year-old dad couldn&rsquo;t have been happier than to be watching his grandson play in a hockey game in New York State from his home in Atlanta.&rdquo;</p>
<p>For Shaffer, being there at the rink watching his son compete at Nationals is just as special.</p>
<p>&ldquo;Being able to get here meant everything to these kids and their families,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;We had heard so much about the Nationals and the buildup was tremendous. It has lived up to its reputation. It was a blast.&rdquo;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h5>Randy Schultz is the publisher/managing editor for N.Y. Hockey Online Magazine.<br /></h5>
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http://www.usahockeymagazine.com/article/2015-04/watching-son-compete-nationals-proud-moment-pop#commentsCharlie ShafferParentUSA Hockey National ChampionshipsFeatureWed, 22 Apr 2015 20:51:45 +0000admin11449 at http://www.usahockeymagazine.comNationals An Eye-Opening Experience For First-Time Participantshttp://www.usahockeymagazine.com/article/2015-04/nationals-eye-opening-experience-first-time-participants
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<a href="/author/kurt-kragthorpe">Kurt Kragthorpe</a> </div>
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<p>Stewart McKenna will spend the summer thinking about seven memorable minutes.<br />That opening stretch of the host team Davis Eagles&rsquo; game against the Mat-su Eagles of Alaska served as a reminder of why he was so driven to recover from a knee injury and play in the 2015 Toyota-USA Hockey Youth Tier II 14 &amp; Under National Championship in Salt Lake City.</p>
<p>And even though his team lost all three games in his first National Championship tournament, for those few magical moments McKenna and his Eagles&rsquo; teammates knew they could compete at a high level.</p>
<p>&ldquo;It felt pretty good to know we were beating a team that was pretty good,&rdquo; he said.</p>
<p>The Davis Eagles ended up losing the game, 5-3, but in that early flurry that included Gavin Poulsen&rsquo;s two goals, they discovered what was possible for them as hockey players.</p>
<p>In its own way, even a 10-1 loss to the eventual champions, the Scorpions Hockey Club of Florida, was just as motivating, going forward.</p>
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<p>McKenna and his Eagles would love to have more to show for their efforts. Even though they were assigned to a challenging pool with the Scorpions and two other tough teams, they wish they could have enjoyed the success of the Utah Jr. Grizzlies, which won all three of its preliminary games.</p>
<p>Yet there&rsquo;s nothing quite as inspiring as facing elite competition. The games were fast-paced and physical, McKenna said, and the Eagles discovered how quickly an opponent will capitalize when you take off even one shift.</p>
<p>&ldquo;It was a good measuring stick,&rdquo; said Jim McKenna, Stewart&rsquo;s father and the team&rsquo;s coach. &ldquo;What are guys going to do individually to improve throughout the summer? That's what the boys came away with.&rdquo;</p>
<p>His son, who stands 5-foot-2, knows that speed is his potential advantage against bigger opponents. He wants to develop that part of his game, and he also learned that he needs to make quicker decisions with the puck. That&rsquo;s something he could have learned only by playing at the national level.</p>
<p>McKenna&rsquo;s positive experience in his home state of Utah illustrated that the impact of a tournament like this extends far beyond the thrill of winning a national title. And while things may not have gone the way they had hoped, it was still an unforgettable experience.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h5>Kurt Kragthorpe is the lead columnist for the Salt Lake Tribune<br /></h5>
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http://www.usahockeymagazine.com/article/2015-04/nationals-eye-opening-experience-first-time-participants#comments2015 National ChampionshipsExperienceStewart MckennaFeatureWed, 22 Apr 2015 20:03:25 +0000admin11448 at http://www.usahockeymagazine.comStepping Onto Big Stage A Nervous Affair For Nationals First Timerhttp://www.usahockeymagazine.com/article/2015-04/stepping-big-stage-nervous-affair-nationals-first-timer
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<p>The first shift was a real eye-opener for Chloe Harvey.</p>
<p>The 14-year-old Rochester (N.Y.) Monarchs player had never been on a stage like this one. The pressure started to mount in her first trip to the Toyota-USA Hockey Girls&rsquo; Tier I National Championships.</p>
<p>&ldquo;My heart was pounding really fast. It was very scary,&rdquo; Harvey admitted. &ldquo;I haven&rsquo;t experienced something like this in years. There weren&rsquo;t as many people, which definitely calmed me down. But just with the whole experience of everybody watching, it was very nerve-wracking.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Once Harvey got into the flow of the game, her nerves subsided and it was time to play the game she loves.</p>
<p>&ldquo;I can tell when she&rsquo;s relaxed, but she was a little tight,&rdquo; Monarchs&rsquo; coach Gary Moss said of his team&rsquo;s captain. &ldquo;When she&rsquo;s relaxed and everything, she&rsquo;s one of the top players around.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Prior to Nationals, the largest event Harvey had ever competed in was the Quebec International Peewee Tournament two years ago as a member of the Buffalo Junior Sabres 12 &amp; Under boys&rsquo; squad.</p>
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<p>Playing at Nationals is something Harvey had set her sights on at the beginning of the season. After playing with boys&rsquo; teams in and around the Buffalo area, Harvey was happy to make the transition to girls&rsquo; hockey last season.</p>
<p>Two days into the tournament, the freshman at Fairport High School was still trying to soak in the entire experience. Playing 800 miles from home can be a daunting task, but it helped having her parents and younger brother with her to share in the journey.</p>
<p>&ldquo;I think it&rsquo;s pretty neat, because my younger brother plays, too,&rdquo; said Harvey, who scored the overtime winner against Little Caesars to wrap up the preliminary round. &ldquo;He gets to watch me play and he gets to take it all in with me. I think that&rsquo;s one of the best parts.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Every player worth his or her salt is hoping to use their experience at Nationals as a steppingstone in their hockey careers. Harvey is no exception. She has aspirations of one day playing Div. I college hockey and hopes that the exposure of playing in a national tournament will help her catch a coach&rsquo;s eye.</p>
<p>Getting to the Div. I level is a major commitment, but an experience like playing at Nationals is an important step in that journey.</p>
<p>&ldquo;I know that to get there you have to put in the work,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;And this is where it starts.&rdquo;</p>
<h5>Greg Bates is a freelance writer in Green Bay, Wis.<br /></h5>
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http://www.usahockeymagazine.com/article/2015-04/stepping-big-stage-nervous-affair-nationals-first-timer#commentsGirls Tier 1 National ChampionshipNationalsFeatureWed, 22 Apr 2015 19:19:55 +0000admin11441 at http://www.usahockeymagazine.com